In pursuit of River Song
by CrimsonRiver808
Summary: The Doctor wants to ask River something very important, unfortunately, River can often be incredibly stubborn.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE:_ Hello! Here is a fluffy River/11 one-shot for you all. It's pretty much AU :) Enjoy! _**

**DISCLAIMER:_ Unfortunately I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this fanfic, and I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and this is purely for fun and non-profitable purposes!_**

**In pursuit of River Song**

**[ONE-SHOT]**

They collapsed against the mattress, catching their breath and relaxing in silence for a few moments before River pulled the crisp white sheets up to cover their bare bodies.

"That was amazing, my love" She gasped, her golden curls spread out on the pillow in a halo around her head, and her head lolling to the side to look at him. He moaned in agreement and peppered kisses up her arm and neck until he reached her lips and kissed her chastely.

She could barely keep her eyes open now, so she quickly kissed him goodnight, rolled over and tried to drift off to sleep. Minutes later, however, she felt him roll over and spoon up against her. His breath hot on the back of her neck, as he swept her hair to one side before he begun to press gentle kisses on the back of her neck. He whispered something against her skin that she couldn't quite make out because it was fairly inaudible and she was fast drifting off into a contented sleep.

**...**

The next morning, River woke to find the Doctor's side of the bed empty. However, he came stumbling through the door moments later, still dressed in his white pyjama t-shirt and TARDIS blue bottoms, holding a tray laden with breakfast things that he managed to save from going all over the cream carpet after tripping up over his own feet. He grinned idiotically at her as he approached the bed, placing the tray down on top of the covers and presenting it to her, before perching on the edge of the bed; she rolled her eyes at his clumsiness, but pulled him in for a light peck on the lips.

"What's this?" She asked, looking at the wooden tray overloaded with French toast, pancakes dripping in syrup, a glass of fresh orange juice, a million other things and a small crystal vase with a red rose in it.

"Breakfast in bed" He smirked, clambering under the covers with her and pulling the tray towards them.

"What's all this is aid of?" She chuckled, as he put his arms around her and drew her close, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"Nothing, I just wanted to be able to treat you. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing"

"Actually... River, there _is_ something I wanted to talk to you about" He sounded nervous.

"Oh, right, go on" She replied, after finishing off a mouthful of French toast.

"We've, um... been together for a while now. And you know that I love you and would do anything for you" He began, moving the tray to one side and kneeling up in the bed after taking her hands. She had a feeling she knew where this conversation was headed, and she didn't like it. But she pushed him to carry on anyway. "I was just thinking... well, that we should make our relationship more official"

"What are you trying to say, sweetie?" She knew exactly what he was trying to say. But she wanted to hear him say it.

"Marry me, River Song" The words rolled off his tongue, and he stared at her in anticipation, the excitement and nerves pooling in the pit of his stomach. She stared back at him. She closed her eyes solemnly and shook her head gently, squeezing his hands.

"I'm sorry, but, no"

"N... no? No? What do you mean no?" He asked shakily, staring at her in disbelief.

"I mean, no. No, I won't marry you"

"Wh... why not?" He asked, his voice small and timid as he looked at her with big eyes.

"It doesn't matter why not"

"Yes it does! To me it does. I want to know! Is it me? Is it something I've done? Was the proposal not right? Would you have preferred something more fancy and romantic? Was it...?" She cut him off sharply.

"No. No. It's none of those things. It doesn't even matter. I've given you my answer; now let it drop, for god's sake!" She retorted, pulling her hands free from his.

"River, I love you, and I want to marry you. I thought you loved me too. Why don't you want to marry me? Don't you love me? Was I wrong to assume that you did?" He looked so despondent, River didn't want to do this to him, but he was infuriating when he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Of course I love you! I just... don't want to marry you"

"But why!" He whined.

"Oh, for god's sake, Doctor! I've given you my bloody answer, just leave it!" She yelled, jumping up out of the bed and disappearing out of the door and down the corridor, heading for the swimming pool. Yes, she thinks, a swim will calm her down.

He was hurting from being so outright rejected, and after sitting alone in the bedroom, sulking and mulling over the situation for half an hour, he finally came to accept her answer and carried on as normal, pretending nothing had happened and that he hadn't proposed. When she had emerged from the swimming pool two hours later, and entered the console room to find him fiddling with the wiring, he looked up from his work and grinned at her. She paused in the doorway, looking quizzically at him for a few seconds before stepping into the room fully and wrapping her arms around his middle and tucking her head under his chin as she hugged herself close to him. He flailed his arms for a few moments, before wrapping his arms tightly around her and pressing a kiss into her hair.

"I'm sorry" She whispered, nuzzling her face into his chest. "I didn't mean to shout at you"

"It's alright, I understand"

"I really am sorry, Doctor. I'm just... not ready yet"

"It's fine, really, look, I'm fine!" He replied cheerily, grinning ecstatically at her. But it was all a fabrication, because really, he was crushed that she had turned him down. "It's ok, River, really it is! Just forget it happened. As long as we're still ok, it doesn't need going over"

He was smiling, but inside, he was heartbroken.

**...**

He waited a week before trying again. They were in the supermarket at the intergalactic market, the Doctor's fingers interwoven with River's as they meandered through aisles and went milling around other alien customers. They were standing in the fruit aisle, examining some starfruit when a voice erupted all around them from the loudspeaker. The Doctor gripped River's hand a little tighter, and she shot him a puzzled look as he listened intently to the voice from the loudspeaker.

"_Ladies and gentleman, we have a special announcement to make! A gentleman called The Doctor is wondering if the lovely Miss River Song will do him the honour of becoming his wife! Well River, what do you say? " _

Granted, proposing in the supermarket was risky, and wasn't very romantic either, but it certainly was original and River definitely wouldn't be expecting it. Every customer in the shop had turned to face them; there was no going back now. The Doctor looked hopeful as he lowered himself onto one knee at River's feet, still holding her hands firmly in his. River looked as bemused as the rest of the customers, opening her mouth to speak and then closing it abruptly, deciding to say nothing.

"River..." He began.

"N... No, don't. Don't do this. Not here" She mumbled.

"Why not?"

"I'm trying to save you the embarrassment"

And with that he knew. He knew she was about to say no again. He closed his eyes solemnly, a forlorn expression on his face, and let go of her hands. With one last look at him, her boyfriend on his knees in the middle of the supermarket trying to get her to agree to be his wife, she shook her head and turned to run out of the shop, leaving him surrounded by sympathetic shoppers who had witnessed his rejection. The Doctor's cheeks flushed a definitive shade of pink, before he hurriedly trotted after River.

**...**

You'd think that the public humiliation of River rejecting him would be enough to put him off, or just the fact that he had already asked twice now, and both times she had turned him down, would be enough for him to get the message that she was going to say no every time. But no, the Doctor was not going to give up on River. Not ever.

It was Bonfire night on Earth, and he'd taken her to a Light's show on Jupiter in celebration. They were sitting on a hill on a picnic mat, perfectly positioned so they would overlook the carousing down below, and River would be able to see the arrangements the Doctor had made when they surfaced later on.

In the middle of the festivities, in between exploding colours and loud bangs, the words 'Marry me?' suddenly appeared across the sky in sparkling, wispy writing. River huffed and ignored the puppy-dog expression on the Doctor's face as she turned her back to him and the proposal, busying herself with roasting a marshmallow over the fire they'd built.

The words faded into the night sky, and so did the Doctor's hope of ever convincing River to be his wife.

**...**

Oh, but he kept trying.

This time it was with Jammy Dodgers.

He bought twenty-seven packets of Jammy Dodgers, and took out each individual biscuit, laying them all out in the middle of the console room floor to spell out "River, will you marry me?" so when she came back from visiting the Ponds, she'd see it.

When the crackle and flash of her Vortex manipulator materialized in the console room, she landed directly on top of all his hard work, her boots crushing the biscuits with the jammy hearts, and his hearts too.

"River!" He cried out in despair, as she soon realised she was standing on something.

"Oops, sorry sweetie" She brushed the crumbs off her feet and walked towards him, pecking him on the cheek. "I'm going to take a shower. I'll tell you about my visit later. Oh, and I don't know what you think you were doing, but clean up this mess will you?"

"Yes, dear" He mumbled, turning to his creation, which was now in ruins.

He sighed as he advanced to clean up the mess. She hadn't even seen it! She just trampled all over it and left him to clean it up. Yes, she hadn't meant to. And yes, it was only fair he cleaned it up as he made the mess in the first place. But she hadn't even read the words! Just as well, he thought, she probably would have said no anyway.

**...**

They were sitting on the sofa together in the living room on the TARDIS, watching an old movie that River insisted they watch. River was draped across the Doctor's lap, and his arms were around her as they sat in silence watching the television screen. He wasn't paying that much attention; he was just absentmindedly stroking her magic mane of curls and caressing her cheek softly as his mind wandered to how he was going to convince her to marry him.

"If we were married..." He began.

"Mmm" She replied, not taking her eyes off the screen. He doubted if she was really listening, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"I would make you dinner, I would look after you and make sure I told you I loved you every single day, I would clean the TARDIS for you, I'd let you drive" He quickly realised what he'd said, and hastily added, "sometimes. We could go on adventures, you know, like Mr and Mrs Smith! And we could..."

"Sweetie" She interrupted. "You already do all of those things, which proves that I don't need to be your wife for you to do them. Honestly, we're in a solid relationship, and we love each other, we don't need rings and a piece of paper to prove it!"

"But we could have a fabulous wedding, and a brilliant honeymoon, and you know... maybe have a family in the future..."

"What?" She looked startled. "Sweetie, why are you so desperate to get married?"

"Why won't you marry me?" He bit back sharply.

"Don't start this again, please my love"

"Why? Why not? Why won't you let me be your husband? I love you and I want you as my wife. Why can't I keep asking?"

"Because my answer won't change!" She snapped, pulling herself off his lap and storming out of the room.

**...**

Yes, he thinks, he'll buy her a ring. Maybe that's why she'd said no up to now? Maybe the proposals weren't good enough because he didn't even have an engagement ring to give her?

It took him three hours to choose the right ring. They were all so pretty and sparkly, and _expensive_. He didn't even have any money. Actually, that wasn't true, he had an emergency stash of money for every planet in the TARDIS vault, he just chose not to carry cash on him. So money wasn't necessarily an issue, but choosing the right ring was. He only wanted the best for River. He was very close to choosing a diamond ring encrusted with Sapphires from the planet Midnight, but in the end he decided on an elegant silver ring with a princess cut diamond in the middle.

He scuttled out of the jewellers, TARDIS blue ring box in hand as his mind buzzed and whirred with new, romantic proposal ideas. He'd get it right this time.

**...**

Later that night, after he had set everything up for his most romantic and inventive proposal yet, he landed ungracefully at the Stormcage containment facility to collect River. She came rushing through the front doors of his ship and flung her arms around his neck tightly before he lifted her up by her thighs so her legs wrapped around his waist.

He kissed her firmly, before she dropped her forehead against his and she murmured, "Oh, god, sweetie, I'm so glad you came. I haven't seen you in weeks. I missed you"

"I missed you too, River" He grinned, spinning her around, still holding her tightly to him before she dropped her feet back to the floor.

"Where are we going?"

"Nowhere tonight I'm afraid, dear. I just thought we could have a quiet night"  
>"That's good enough for me. I escaped for a big archaeology dig in Cairo today, I could use some down time" She smirked.<p>

"I ran you a bath" He smiled kindly, pressing a kiss to her crown. "Sounds like you could use the respite"

"Oh, you know me so well" She grinned, pulling him in for a chaste kiss by the lapels on his tweed jacket. "That is exactly what I needed"

She went bounding down the steps into the depths of the TARDIS, and seconds later, the Doctor followed her, knowing full well what she would find upon entering their bathroom, and he desperately wanted to see the look on her face when she saw it.

The room was dark, dimly lit by purple and red candles that created a romantic atmosphere. On the floor, pink rose petals were arranged to spell out 'Marry me', and the tepid bath water, mixed with her favourite bath salts and soaps, had a rubber duck, with the ring box, lid open to reveal the ring, balanced precariously on top of the rubber toy, floating along the top. There was a sharp intake of breath on River's part and the Doctor watched on hopefully.

"Oh, Doctor" River sighed, advancing to the bath to take the ring box into her own hands. Her fingers traced along the edges of the box as she eyed the ring carefully. She turned slowly to face him. "You bought me a ring"

He nodded eagerly.

"It's beautiful" She breathed out the words and the Doctor stepped forward readily. "But... I don't want it" She removed the ring from the box, took his hand and placed the ring in his palm, curling his fingers around it tightly. "Return it. Get your money back"

"River, no..."

"I'm sorry" She muttered under her breath, walking out of the room sombrely. "But I told you how I feel"

**...**

They went to Las Vegas, and as they walked arm in arm through the streets, he deliberately made them pass every single Little White Chapel there was.

"Oh, River, look, there's one of those little chapel things... people get married there don't they?" He said, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Yes, my love, they do" She replied distractedly, looking in the opposite direction.

"What do ya say, doll?" He said, in his best American accent.

"Hmm?" She asked, snapping back to reality.

"You, me, the little white chapel? What do you think?" He grinned.

"No"

**...**

After that, he tries one more time, taking her to dinner at a fancy floating restaurant on a far away planet, and requests that the waiter hide the engagement ring in River's chocolate cake.

That attempt lasted right up until she choked on the ring when eating her dessert, and stormed out of the restaurant and back to the TARDIS, after spitting it out, leaving him to foot the bill and explain to the employees what all the panicking and spluttering had been about.

**...**

Later that night, the Doctor lay wide awake in bed, tossing and turning and mulling over all his failed attempts at proposing to River.

Suddenly, he blurted out, "That's it. I give up"

"What?" River grumbled sleepily, rolling over to turn on the bedside lamp.

"I said I give up. I'm done with trying to propose to you. Clearly you don't want to marry me, I should have accepted that the first time you said no, instead of trying to wear you down and get you to agree. It wasn't fair and I'm really sorry"

River sighed and scooted over to him in the bed, resting her head on his chest and her palm over his hearts. He smiled faintly and put his arms around her shoulders.

"I just wish you would tell me why you won't marry me" He muttered sadly. "And not all that rubbish about not being ready because I know it's a lie. And if you love me like you say you do, why not? Come on, River! Why are you so afraid to say yes? Why are you so scared of being my wife?"

"I'm not scared!" She protested.

"Then why do you keep saying no? If you're not scared, if it wasn't the proposals, if it isn't me, if we love each other, what the hell is it that's stopping you? Is it the commitment thing?"

"No!" She said adamantly, sitting bolt upright in the bed.  
>"Please, River, tell me what it is" He pleaded, sitting up next to her and taking her hands. "I don't mind if you don't want to marry me, but if you're not honest with me, we can't move on from this"<p>

"Fine" She huffed. "You want to know the _real_ reason why I said no?"

"Yes please"

"Ok" She took a deep breath. "I don't want to marry you because it would break my heart"

It wasn't quite the answer he was expecting, but he urged her to continue.

"Half the time we meet you don't know who I am. I think it would kill me if my husband, the love of my life, was holding me, and kissing me, and loving me one minute, and snapping at me, avoiding me, or giving me blank looks the next. I couldn't possibly do that. It's hard enough already. And as much as I love you, as much as I would love to be able to call you my husband, as much as I want to be able to _know_ that we belong to each other for the rest of our lives, I don't want to have to go through that pain. The pain of not being able to wear my wedding ring all the time for fear which version of you I might meet, or not being able to see you all the time. And... and you mentioned maybe having a family! I couldn't do that, I couldn't. I couldn't not see my child; I couldn't not have you see your child. And I'm in Stormcage for god's sake! Even if you break me out, you'd never get to spend all your time with me. It would never work. That's the reality of it. I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry Doctor. I wish I could say yes. Bu I can't" She was working herself up into a frenzy now, bottling up the emotions she'd been hiding for the past three months. Tears began to spill from her eyes and he shushed her gently and brushed her tears away, holding her tightly to him.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. I understand. I'm so sorry" He mumbled into her hair, pressing kisses wherever he could reach. "I'm sorry for trying to push you. I'm sorry for ruining everything we have now"

"No, no you didn't" She replied. "It's not your fault; you were just trying to be a good partner"

"We don't need to get married. It's fine, really" He laid her back down and hugged her close. "Just know, that if we were married, I'd do anything in my power to see you, to make sure that even if you'd met me in the wrong order, that the right version of me would be there to make it up to you. It would be _our_ life; we could do whatever we want. And I would love you more than you ever thought possible. I would protect you and care for you. Yes, it would be hard at times. But it would be more than worth it. I promise you, River. But if marriage isn't something you want to venture into, I'm more than ok with that"

And that's when she knew.

"What was the question?" She asked quietly.

"Sorry?"

"What was the question?"

The Doctor was stunned for a minute, but he quickly caught on, comprehending what she meant. He looked hopefully at her and she nodded slightly. He leapt out of the bed, snatched the ring from the bedside drawer and knelt down on one knee beside the bed. River scuttled over to the edge of the bed and he took her hand in his. He'd asked her eight times already, what harm could asking once more do?

"River, will you marry me?"

"Yes"

**A review would be lovely :) **


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